quoththeraven

Which is why having a means of emergency communication in the elevator is so important. It's nice that someone from the family is staying with her in the hospital (though it may be a ploy to ensure she doesn't contact an attorney), but delaying the entry of city elevator inspectors gives me pause. What is the purpose of that? They're already fucked. No amount of instructions or cover-up is going to change that. That's not something people who care about the situation would do.

I agree that it's not a big deal but as that saying and others (like things sucking and someone being a douche) rely on and spring from homophobia and hangups about sex, is it really so bad to occasionally point out these assumptions? In the old days of women's lib, this would be called "consciousness raising." I have to admit to being irked every time anyone uses the term PC. Either they're using it to refer to counterproductive or dumb bureaucracy, insisting on treating people with dignity irrespective of status, or to engage in this type of consciousness-raising. As to bureacracy, call it that. Don't use the lazy formulation of PC. As to the others, what is so bad about any of that?

I've never had sex with someone whose body was really jacked. Other than with someone obese enough to put limits on positions (this can also happen because of arthritis, etc.) and the guy so skinny his ribs dug into my side, the state if their bodies was a non-issue. Probably the best lover I've had has a little wine gut. (I can't call it a beer belly because he doesn't drink beer.) Within reasonable parameters, it's not the shape or size of the body that determines sexual prowess and satisfaction, but rather skill and dedication. (Kind of obviously, I'm describing sex with all partners, not just escorts. None of the people mentioned above are the two escorts I've seen, either.)

From Twitter:[MEDIA=twitter]1090326312567357443[/MEDIA] felt the need to talk about how heavy days like today are for Black Queer folk. I want more of us to speak out. [MEDIA=twitter]1090326312567357443[/MEDIA] What he says about Black Queer folk showing up for everybody else but not receiving the same level of support back is unfortunately true. That's why white supremacists gays like our friend Avalon are a menace. Their racist beliefs disqualify them from being full-fledged believers in and supporters of gay rights, let alone rights for the entire queer community. "None of us are free until everyone is free"- Fannie Lou Hamer "Some animals are more equal than others" - George Orwell

I took them to be referring to the US, not the Chicago area. i'm just glad he wasn't more seriously injured.

This is a quote from the Rolling Stone article that is the basis for my assertion about R&B writers preferring to work in South Korea. “In the U.S., we like it simple, we like the same melodies repeated,” agrees Bell, who has written hits for EXO, ShinEE and Taeyeon. In contrast, “Korean pop music likes differentiation and changes,” Bell continues. “The average American song is four melodies, maybe five. The average K-pop song is eight to 10. They are also very heavy in the harmonies.” “The one-loop beat doesn’t work over there,” adds Randolph, who helped write “Limitless,” a hit for the nine-member boy band NCT127, who were put together by S.M. Entertainment. “You definitely get to stretch. No other style of music has that many parts in their songs." https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-american-rb-songwriters-found-a-new-home-in-k-pop-627643/ That's inconsistent with the characterization of k-pop as bubblegum. Not that none of it is, but the insistence that catchy, upbeat pop music (also not the entirety of kpop) is all bubblegum baffles me and is an indictment of the diminished reputation of pop in the US.

I actually consider a minority of Kpop to fall into the category of bubblegum music, but Kpop is insanely catchy, more interested in vocal prowess and easier for me to listen to than Western pop because I'm not straining (and failing) to understand the lyrics. It's also far more experimental and adventurous to the point where American R&B songwriters prefer to write for Kpop groups because what Western groups want is formulaic and uninteresting. More music is made in South Korea with more attention to detail - and cinematic MVs - than is ever dreamed of in the US.

He is a great singer. It's too bad he is less well-known to international fans than Holland is. Neither of them promote their music on South Korea's many music shows, which is a shame. Since he has no agency and his MVs are rated 19+ (equivalent to 18+ here because of differences in calculating age), Holland would have difficulty making the contacts necessary to get on such shows, but MRSHLL shouldn't have a problem if he and his agency want to do it. Here's another song on which MRSHLL features. I actually like it better than the solo material I've heard.

I should probably collect this all in a thread about queer visibility in South Korea, but here's a video for the song "Come Over" by Korean-American R&B singer MRSHLL, who is signed to the Feel Ghood agency/label owned by Tiger JK, the godfather of k-hiphop, and his wife and fellow rapper, Yoon Mirae. Since MRSHLL came out in 2015 and started releasing material last year, he, not Holland, is the first openly gay Kpop artist. The MV itself is very minimalistic compared to Holland's MVs. MRSHLL has the best R&B voice out of all the K-r&b artists I've heard, possibly because of his US origins and his church roots. His mother is an evangelical minister, so he undoubtedly was exposed to gospel singing at an early age.

Damn right I haven't.

I love crime stories, but not when they center the criminals. I don't care how much they show them as bad people. There are still going to be viewers who like and celebrate them as rebels and antiheroes. I watched a couple of episodes of Dexter, but there the premise was "how soon will he be caught" and the disconnect between his job and his sociopathy. I loved Hannibal even though it was the most problematic of Bryan Fuller's shows, but it was mostly told through the point of view of people around Hannibal (primarily Will Graham) and wasn't interested in realism. As a quasi-fantasy and as a queer love story, it worked.

I never watched The Sopranos. I actively dislike shows that center the narrative of criminals like Tony Soprano and the guy from Breaking Bad.

Michael Jackson is someone else I sideeyed. Irrespective of the verdict in the criminal trial, I believe he molested young boys. While he wasn't the kind of arrogant asshole Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Bryan Singer and Kevin Spacey are, his actions still did damage. The fact that his emotionally and physically abusive dad messed him up and ensured he didn't have a proper childhood is a causative factor, not an excuse.

She may not have family monitoring her condition, but it does make one wonder how her pregnancy wasn't noticed. Presumably she doesn't spend all her time completely clothed - how is she bathed, for example? I'm not sure cameras would have helped, though. Most likely the perpetrator was someone who would be expected to enter her room. It would only be helpful retrospectively, and obtaining DNA from male employees, which is currently happening, is a more direct way of identifying the culprit.

Distorting history and the source material to serve a white savior narrative is something worth discussing rather than dismissing criticism as "the PC police." That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the movie. The best analogy I can think of is Bohemian Rhapsody, which distorts and downplays Freddie Mercury's sexuality to serve a narrative driven and approved by his surviving bandmates. Surely you wouldn't dump on people who criticize the movie for that as the PC police even if you don't share their opinion. The same principles apply here.

Boosted by singalong showings and repeat visits, Bohemian Rhapsody has earned more at the box office in South Korea than in any country other than the US. (Yes, more than in the UK.) https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190107006500315?section=features/features#none Singing along at pop concerts is standard in South Korea, so the popularity of singalong shows isn't surprising. I've seen surprise expressed at the popularity of the movie given the stigma attached to AIDS there, especially among devout Christians, who make up 25-30% of the population, but South Koreans' opinions of singers -- foreign ones especially -- tend to focus on their music to the exclusion of everything else. Queen's music is well-known and popular in South Korea. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured on the TV show Immortal Songs 2, in which current pop artists (particularly those who aren't well known) reinterpret classic songs, back in 2014. Because of Bohemian Rhapsody's popularity, two of the three year-end network broadcast music festivals included covers of songs by Queen. This was probably the more dynamic of the two of them: (Notice the audience is singing along to the chorus, unprompted.)

The same King James who commissioned the Authorized Version of the Bible that some believe is the only correct version. How surprised would they be about the identity of his paramours? Edward II also had favorites, but they were even less well-qualified as leaders and he wasn't very interested in actual governance and was eventually pushed out, imprisoned and killed.

Article from The Stranger about the changes at Tumblr. The author also points a finger at SESTA/ FOSTA. https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/12/17/37154956/the-death-of-tumblr-is-coming

Instead of "verbose," we need a good tl;dr icon. ("Too long; didn't read.")

The content that led to the Apple Store dropping them was child porn that didn't belong there in the first place, not adult porn. I suspect FOSTA/SESTA was a secondary consideration. I haven't used Tumblr in years because their Kindle Fire app was outdated and worked poorly if at all. I kept getting messages bugging me to update it but what was available from Amazon wasn't any newer. I don't know if that was a Tumblr problem or an Amazon problem and I didn't care to try to find out.

In the sense that an enjoyable encounter is cooperative, yes, but this is about the business side, not the personal. To me it makes more sense for the person in the business of providing companionship in time increments to keep track of the time.

Boy, I'm glad I chose today to check back in. Happy holidays, everyone, and hope to see you again in January!

It's the escort's responsibility, imo. He's the one with the experience and the one guiding the session.

In this instance, I am not sure it would have the same effect, as the behavior involved seems compulsive rather than thought through. It might have resulted in more threads started rather than less.

Thank you for that endorsement. I would also like to say that it's an endorsement of law school as a place where one learns how to make cogent arguments without engaging in ad hominem attacks. There have been times I wished some of my fellow posters understood how to do this.